Shakespeare's rags-to-riches story is exposed as a myth after new research reveals his father was a successful wool trade businessman

John Shakespeare was said 'a wealthy alderman who fell on hard times'

But that theory has been discredited by research from David Fallow

Studied financial records and court documents from Stratford-upon-Avon

He believes that William's father was actually involved in illegal wool trade

It has long been thought that William Shakespeare's story was a true life rags-to-riches tale.

But now new research has revealed that it is in fact a myth and his father was a successful wool trade businessman.

John Shakespeare was said to be a wealthy glover and leather worker who fell on hard times and went bankrupt for reasons that historians have so far been unable to uncover.

It was thought that this left his son to make his own way in life and establish himself as a poet and actor, where he made his wealth in the theatres of London.

But former financier David Fallow, who has been studying the Shakespeare family's fortunes for years by analysing financial records, has made new claims about the playwright.

His research suggests that John Shakespeare in fact never went bankrupt but was in fact dealing in an illicit wool trade and making more money than ever, The Observer reports.

Fallow says it was this that prompted Shakespeare to leave Stratford-upon-Avon for London in 1585 to act as the family's business representative, rather than to start a career in theatre.

He believes this could explain his activities during the seven 'lost years' - the same length of time to undertake a traditional apprenticeship - after that move when he almost disappears from records.

Fallow studied financial records, including wool markets, the value of exports from regional ports, statistics on the rise of trade in the capital and court documents from Stratford-upon-Avon.

The businessman believes these details have previously been overlooked by literary scholars who have struggled to understand the figures.

'John Shakespeare was a national-level wool dealer, and legal research, coupled to analysis of the wool market, proves this. The Shakespeare family never fell into poverty,' he said.

He also claims that the family's wealth did not just from William's theatrical work alone and John Shakespeare was able to buy acres of land as well as a house with up to 30 rooms.

His research also suggests John Shakespeare was putting his property in the hands of friends and family as a bid to outwit the taxman.

Fallow's work caught the interest of leading scholars, Stanley Wells and Paul Edmonson of the Shakespeare Birthplace Trust, who commissioned him to write a chapter for a book marking the 400th anniversary of Shakespeare's death, next year.

The Shakespeare Circle: An Alternative Biography, which will be published by Cambridge University Press next month, features contributions from some of the world's leading writers.

Wells said: 'Fallow builds a considerable argument on the idea that [John Shakespeare] withdrew not because he was poor, not because his fortunes declined – as has regularly been assumed – but because he had an alternative way of earning money, which was a bit shady.'